Once she was standing at the side of the boat, Liaran reached for it, holding it steady with the hand that wasn't holding her skirt up. She waited for Haeden come and settle himself in it before letting go, then climbed in and seated herself on the wooden bench across from him. Only then did she release the fabric she'd been holding, allowing it to pool around her feet and cover her legs again.
"This is just a rowboat," she said to Haeden, "We use them sometimes to sail between neighboring islands, but not often. It is nothing like our larger ships." Liaran leaned across her seat, pushing the boat away from the shore and allowing it to drift out onto the water. As it did, she took an oar in each hand and began to row. She had been careful to ensure that the number of boats available wouldn't crowd the lake too much, so while she watched for others, she wasn't especially worried about running into anyone.
Watching out for the other boats helped Liaran to find a location away from the rest of them, out near the center of the lake, and she turned the oars to direct their boat that way. As she distanced them from the others, Liaran turned to Haeden and spoke.
"I've been thinking," she said quietly as she continued to row. "I know that a woman here usually takes her husband's name after marrying, but I'm not going to do that." Her eyes remained mostly on Haeden as she explained, "I like my name, I earned it...and it is one of the only ties I still have to my people and our culture." She knew without having to ask that Haeden would respect her right to make that decision, but she was afraid it would hurt him....and hurting the man she loved was one of the very few fears Liaran had.